Google Maps speed trap and accident reporting is increasingly useless

Ben Schoon | Feb 18 2024 - 9:00 am PT

Using a navigation app when out on the road is what just about everyone does nowadays, but these apps are useful for more than just getting directions from point A to point B. Google Maps has supported incident reporting for quite some time, but as we keep moving forward, the feature is becoming essentially useless due to neglect.

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Google Maps first introduced support for incident reports back in 2019. The feature allows users to report speed traps and accidents, and quickly expanded to include more incidents and obstructions including construction, lane closures, and more. With Maps being one of the most-used apps out there, it’s an incredibly useful idea!

But, almost five years later, the feature just feels like it’s been wasting away.

With incident reporting in Google Maps, users can send in these reports while they’re navigating on the road from a little menu attached to the right side of the display. It’s quick and easy, but it only works from your phone’s display. If you’re using the phone to display your navigation, you’ve got quick and easy access, but that’s becoming increasingly frustrating.

As we move forward and more and more folks get new vehicles, Android Auto and CarPlay are commonplace on the road. These systems bring the crucial apps from our smartphones onto the car’s display, where they’re generally safer to use and easier to see. But Google Maps, for whatever reason, just keeps ignoring incident reporting on these platforms. We first called attention to this towards the end of 2019, but does to today, the feature still has never expanded to Android Auto or CarPlay, and it still doesn’t seem like there’s any good reason for it.

Meanwhile, Waze continues to support reporting options on both platforms. Waze recently gave its reporting feature a revamp, and that update was available quickly to Android Auto and CarPlay users.

Without support for these platforms, incident reporting in Google Maps is dying a slow, painful, and needless death. Waze is always going to have a more lively community of drivers who make these reports as that’s the main focus of the app, but Google’s decision to not support this functionality in the Maps experience that more and more people are actually using in their cars is just leaving the feature to fade into the background. As fewer people use it, fewer people will know it exists in the first place. Besides, it’s not like the phone experience is getting any better – arguably, it’s just getting worse.

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Top comment by berto1014

Liked by 17 people

Thank you for writing this article and bringing awareness again. This feature missing from Android Auto is a huge omission and my biggest complaint with maps. I filed a feature request for this year's ago, I think right around 2019 actually. I'll dig it up and link it here later so maybe more people can star the issue for future implementation. But I cited exactly what you said, that Android Auto usage is increasing rapidly, and since the feature is missing in that mode, the quality of the data has stagnated since people can't make reports in that mode. This is honestly a safety feature. Plenty of times I would have loved to flag debris in the road or other hazards, but nope, can't. Years ago, there were many many reports, now there are barely any anymore in my area.

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